The hot water supply has been an issue for many Hickory Hall residents.
“Many times, when I took a shower, the water got gradually colder and colder without me manually adjusting the temperature,” said freshman Wei Jiacheng, a Hickory resident.
“Sometimes the water got hotter, and sometimes colder. When it got colder, I just kept finishing my shower,” said freshman Zheng Ruxin.
Hickory Resident Director Sarah Stefanowicz said she had lived in the hall for two academic years and she has had this hot water problem the whole time.
However, the problem seemed to have improved. Regarding this semester, Wei said he ran into the problem only once.
“It’s been better now. I personally haven’t had a problem this semester,” Stefanowicz said.
“I had talked to Mark (Dougherty, Housing director) in previous semesters, and maintenance (workers) came from time to time.”
The problem in the past is a continuing point of contention. Communication among students, residence assistants and maintenance workers may have been a problem.
“I don’t think it has to do with people taking showers or using water at once,” she said.
Stefanowicz said she once took a shower at 4:30 a.m., a time that one may assume few use water, and still ran into temperature problems.
“The water would get too hot at the beginning and then drop to ice cold.”
She said she also ran into this problem with the sink.
One frustrating scenario, she said, is when one has little time to shower and the water becomes cold.
Resident assistant Sasha Peterman said the water gets cold during a shower and then gets hot.
“It’s been like this since I moved in (last semester),” she said.
Dougherty said he is aware of past water-temperature problems in Hickory.
“We respond quickly to resolve issues as they occur,” said Dougherty.
Jacqueline M. Ivock, Physical Plant coordinator, said workers have not received tickets filed by Hickory residents through Campus Services online or telephone calls.
According to Ivock, there have not been reports on a reoccuring problem regarding hot water in Hickory Hall.
Single cases may be caused by too many people using the hot water at the same time, she said.
“If that’s a big issue, we will fix it immediately.”
Ivock also said a reason that the problem is reoccurring is that workers have not been able to isolate and pinpoint whether the problems are in a certain area, or at a certain time of the day.
According to Dougherty, if campus residents find a problem regarding the hot water, they can report the issue to their resident directors or assistants.
Another way, he said, is to call the Housing Office or Physical Plant during business hours. One can call Campus Police after business hours and on weekends.
